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TürkçeA contribution from Stefan Wermter, Managing Director ROWE
Engine oils have to deliver top performance
Extreme temperatures, unimaginably high pressures, extreme mechanical loads - very few people are aware of what happens in the combustion engine of even a small car while driving. This is why engine oils are needed that prevent engines from being damaged during operation. They keep the engine running in the truest sense of the word. In doing so, they often have to deliver extremely high performance - under a wide variety of conditions. At sub-zero temperatures as well as in the summer heat, at slow speeds as well as at high speeds on the highway.
The development of engine oils is becoming increasingly demanding
The development of engine oils has become increasingly demanding in recent years. Not only have the requirements for environmental protection and sustainability increased with ever stricter emission regulations, the engines themselves have also changed massively. Technologies such as downsizing enable ever higher thermal efficiencies - and at the same time increase the demands on engine oils. One specific example: the rising engine temperatures associated with downsizing also mean that the heat input into the coolant is increasing, meaning that the high-temperature and oxidation stability of engine oils and coolants is playing an ever greater role.
Laboratory, test bench and fleet tests do not reflect the extreme conditions of a race track
Today, new engine oils and coolants are first developed in the laboratory and on test benches before they are put through their paces in fleet tests. This is not enough for us. We take all our findings and developments to the racetrack.
GT3 racing: tougher than any test bench
Now our racing team comes into play. Extreme conditions prevail here that cannot be achieved either on the road or on the test bench. And in the shortest possible time. In a 24-hour race on the Nürburgring, each of our vehicles covers an average of over 4,000 kilometers - under the toughest conditions. 26 kilometers, gradients of up to 18 percent, 90 bends, up to 300 meters difference in altitude. Extreme load peaks follow every second. The transmission is subjected to shocks that can hardly be simulated. If we wanted to put a similar load on a vehicle on the road under normal traffic conditions, we would have to cover over 82,000 kilometers in a very short time. Impossible.
Continuous evaluation
All this would be useless if we weren't constantly evaluating the use of our racing cars. Sometimes I get the impression that we measure and analyze more than we race. This generates huge amounts of data, which we then take to the labs and test benches and carefully evaluate. This allows us to test and optimize formulations, but also individual additives, for example, incredibly effectively in terms of their effect, resilience and durability. This often gives us a big head start, especially when it comes to the incredibly important wear protection additives.
From racing to the road car
But how do the findings from the race track end up in the engine of a road car? A consistent technology transfer takes place. After all, the technologies used in the high-performance oils for a 590 hp inline six-cylinder engine with a displacement of three liters and double turbocharging in our BMW M4 GT3 are very similar to those used in ROWE HIGHTEC MULTI SYNT DPF SAE 5W-30 for an 80 hp VW Polo 1.0 MPI, for example. In short: Where the use in the racing car takes us to the limit, the knowledge gained there helps us enormously when using it on the road.
ROWE Racing is more than passion!
People keep asking me whether the considerable investment in our racing team, the commitment and the energy we put into it, is not ultimately just about the fun and passion of racing. As fascinated as we all are by racing and performance, I can say: No, the fun is a nice side effect, but not the reason. ROWE Racing is of the highest value to us because it strengthens our brand and is the perfect driving laboratory for our research and development.
About the person
As a member of the Executive Board, Stefan Wermter is in charge of operations at ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH. From 2024 he will be its managing director. Stefan Wermter started at ROWE in 2002 as a customer service representative and was able to develop from team leader in internal sales to head of product and sales controlling. In 2019, he was appointed to the management team. Stefan Wermter is married and father of a daughter. He has more than 20 years of experience in the lubricants industry and has played a key role in ROWE's rise to become a global company.
4/4/24
